科學家稱尼斯湖水怪可能只是條巨型鰻魚

The most famous photo of the Loch Ness monster has long been discredited as a hoax, but scientists have come up with a new explanation for other sightings of the elusive beast -- it could be just a giant eel.

長期以來，尼斯湖水怪最著名的照片一直被認爲是一個騙局，但科學家們對尼斯湖水怪的其他目擊事件提出了新的解釋--它可能只是一條巨型鰻魚。

A team of researchers used DNA samples from taken from the lake in Scotland where "Nessie" is believed to dwell and concluded that a more familiar creature was behind the legend.

一組研究人員使用了來自蘇格蘭湖泊的DNA樣本，得出結論認爲尼斯湖水怪的傳說背後可能是一種更熟悉的生物。

"There are large amounts of eel DNA in Loch Ness," Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from New Zealand's University of Otago said last Thursday.

新西蘭奧塔哥大學遺傳學家尼爾·格默爾上週四表示：“尼斯湖中含有大量鰻魚DNA。”

Scientists began the study of the lake's biodiversity in June 2018, taking 250 samples of water from various locations and depths to identify its inhabitants.

2018年6月，科學家們開始研究該湖的生物多樣性，從不同地點和深度採集了250個樣本，來確定其棲息物種。

They found about 3,000 distinct species, Gemmell told a press conference at the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit, Scotland. "Most of those are so small, you'll never see them."

格默爾在蘇格蘭德拉姆納德羅基特的尼斯湖中心舉行的新聞發佈會上表示，他們發現了大約3000種不同的物種。“它們大多尺寸很小，你永遠都看不到它們。”

Gemmell said that while the study's primary focus was the lake's biodiversity, a Loch Ness monster sighting would've been a bonus.

格默爾稱，雖然這項研究的主要關注點是尼斯湖水怪的生物多樣性，但如果能發現尼斯湖水怪的痕跡，那將是一個額外的收穫。

Although the discredited 1934 photo was later said to be a toy submarine, with a model head and neck attached, various theories over the years have suggested the monster could actually be a dragon, a marine dinosaur or just a really big catfish.

儘管1934年那張不可信的照片上面有着頭部和頸部的形象後來被說成是一艘玩具潛艇，但多年來的各種理論都表明，這隻怪物實際上可能是一條龍、一隻海洋恐龍，或者只是一條真正的大鮎魚。

The new data suggested some of the more outlandish theories about Nessie could be ruled out.

新的數據表明，關於尼斯湖水怪的一些更古怪的理論已經可以排除。

"Is there a plesiosaur in Loch Ness? No. There is absolutely no evidence of any reptilian sequences in our samples," Gemmell said. "So I think we can be fairly sure that there is probably not a giant scaly reptile swimming around in Loch Ness."

格默爾表示：“尼斯湖有蛇頸龍嗎？不。在我們的樣本中絕對沒有任何爬行動物序列的證據。所以我認爲我們可以相當肯定的是，尼斯湖可能沒有巨大的有鱗爬行動物在遊動。”